I don't know why, but we decided to suck it up and go to Portland.
We woke up at 4AM, piled into the car (girls slept in their clothes), and found a sweet short-term parking spot (cuz that's how we roll) right next to the elevator doors. There was even a SmarteCarte right there waiting for us.
We sail through check-in, get waved to the front of the security line because we "got a baby," and get settled into the gate area to wait for our flight. J. heads off in search of coffee and croissants. All is good.
We board first, get the girls seated. The flight attendant is sweet and learns all our names. Tells Bunny she likes her shoes. Tells Wallie what a good girl she is. Offers blankets all around. Feeling the Xanax kicking in (I hate flying), I close my eyes for a bit while Bunny looks out the window at the airplane next to us being prepped for flight.
*Ding*
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're having a little trouble waking up our airplane this morning (yes he said that), so we're going to need to do a system re-boot (yes, he said that). You're going to be in the dark for a few minutes."
Then...complete silence. No lights, no air, no other engine-y airplane noises. It was eerie. At this point, I'm thinking I'd rather not be flying on a "sleepy airplane." I want one that's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Not one that had one too many the night before. These are my babies you're transporting.
The woman in front of me says, "I have a conference to attend that starts at 9AM. I check the time. It's 6:52. She's cutting it close.
Bling. Whirrrrr. Lights come on. Whew. We're ready to rumble. Wait. What? We aren't? You're calling maintenance?
We're all supposed to remain seated while The Guy in the Yellow Safety Vest comes to check things out. Something tells me that The Guy in the Yellow Safety Vest is not the guy that going to be able to fix this problem. He's the Help Desk Guy of the airport world. This problem is too big for him.
Sure enough, we're told to de-plane. We ain't going anywhere today. Flight. Cancelled. Conference Lady is bummed. Wallie is delighted since she's been screaming for the last 10 minutes to GET DOW-OOOONNN. Bunny is pissed that she doesn't get to go up in the air.
Once in the gate area, an announcement is made that because it's the start of Spring Break, ain't no flights to Portland on any airline anywhere. Would we be willing to maybe possibly leave out of San Jose (an hour south)? No, we wouldn't. And so, we return home.
I fall asleep on the way home and so does Wallie. Bunny is quiet. I can tell she is disappointed but she isn't saying. J. and I get home and curl up in bed with girls who soon get bored and scamper off to play. I drift in and out of sleep. Someone has keys...Bunny has clicked on the TV...I hear the fridge door open...that's not good. We get up.
Feeling guilty, J. has now taken Bunny out for A Special Adventure. To Guitar Center (Dante's 10th circle of hell) because you can never have too much audio equipment and it's never too early to learn about DSP. She fell asleep in the car. He made a U-turn and brought the sleepy Bun home.
We'll see Portland next week, when, hopefully, it's sunnier and we're healthier.
